The Garter Stitch Scarf, Made Prettier

I’d guess just about every knitter has at one point or another knit a garter stitch scarf. It’s often one of the first things you knit because it’s an easy way to get comfortable with forming the knit stitch. You don’t have to think about shaping or even how much you’ve knit or how much you have left to knit because you can just keep going until it’s a good length, or you’re bored or run out of yarn.

But this take on the garter stitch scarf from NobleKnits shows you that the plain old garter stitch scarf doesn’t have to be abandoned as soon as you learn how to purl. This is still an easy project, but the yarn choice — a “railroad” yarn with a strand of wool running through the “track” for extra stability — makes it look fancier than it is.

Because this is a novelty yarn it’s a little harder to see your stitches than a plain wool would be, so I wouldn’t recommend it for your first knitting project, but when you’re on garter stitch scarf two or three and are looking for something a little different but still dead simple, this is the one for you.

[Photo via NobleKnits.]

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Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

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